Faith The Ghost Guide

It's been roughly a week since I've departed from Fort Meridian with the provided units. Since that time, not much has occurred. Sure, I've gotten closer to some of the soldiers, and even memorized some of their names. I assigned special roles to some of the units in case of a battle. Though, we've been traveling for some time and not a single monster has appeared yet. The majority of this journey was just walking long distances, hunting for food, and camping at nighttime.

Currently, we were camping as it was nighttime. I was in my tent, staring at a map on our route to Khurid Kingdom. We were warned that the usual route was now filled with Monsters and Bandits, but we haven't come across a single one in sight. The flame of the candle that shone on the map flickered, making it harder to observe the map.

Khurid Kingdom was almost just like my Kingdom. The majority of the people were peasant farmers who worked day to day on the fields. It was mostly a rural Kingdom, and its main source of economy was international trade for their produce that the Farmer's collected. The only difference, however, was that it was an actual important Kingdom when it came to trading. Many towns were centered solely on trading, with large markets overtaking the Capital.

"Captain, dinner is ready," A maidservant, Valeria, came into my tent and set a bowl of soup on the table, and left back out into her tent.

I thought Commander Spark had only left me in charge of soldiers when I left Fort Meridian a week ago. You could've guessed my surprise when a group of five youthful maids came up to me in a maid dress, claiming to be my servants.

I put the map to the side and began eating. The soup was... soupy. Nothing special, but I refused to be spoiled and get to eat all the delicious food like all those spoiled commanders.

I wondered how Mareii was holding up. I had accepted the fact that she was gone, and who knows when I'd get to see her again. But from time to time, my mind still lingered to her. It'd be so much better if she were here. It wouldn't be as boring. Sighhhh.

I missed her. Without a doubt, I did.

Once I finished eating the flavorless Chicken soup, I headed out my tent and walked along the posts and torches. The tents of the soldiers laid all sprawled out across the field for the night, and the camp was brightened by the burning torches. Usually, I'd go out and socialize for a bit and ask for an overall report for the day, then I'd just head back to my tent to get some sleep.

But tonight... something felt off. Very off.

I activated 3rd Category: Group Ranking to receive the statistics for the day. They appeared in my mind.

VANGUARD'S UNITS

[Calvary] 75

[Archers] 100

[Swordsmen] 150

[Medics] 25

[Total Units] 350

Yeah, it was pretty much the same as always. I wanted to go back to my tent and wind down for the night. However, that tingly feeling never left me. I decided to stay out a while more.

The air around me turned humid, mist overtaking the field which made the camp look deserted. I ran towards the Commander's tent, where all the Commanders of each battalion slept. They were all still awake when I got there.

"Hey! Assemble your units in Standard form," I yelled out into the tent as they all got up and began to call out their respective units.

After a few minutes, all of the battalions were assembled and ready. Confusion ran through the units as they wondered why they suddenly had to be assembled into their positions.

Honestly... even I didn't know why I ordered them to assemble. It was just a gut instinct that something was wrong, so...

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. A tall, humanoid figure was spotted out into the field of grass. Dark energy was coursing through it, as mythical glows of the negative energy spread out into the air. The entire thing was covered in dark energy, and it strangely resembled a giant. Although, it appeared much, much taller. Hundreds of feet up into the cloudy, night sky.

The Monster began to make its way towards the camp, having spotted us. I used Power Ranking to determine exactly what it was.

DEMON KING SPAWN???

[Speed] ???

[Strength] ???

[Intelligence] ???

[Defense] ???

[Perseverance/Moral] ???

[Luck] ???

[Total] 99er99r9g9tg9ls9 ERROR!

What... Did Power Ranking fail?? That's the first time that's happened, along with the total statistic being replaced by a bunch of letters and the word error.

"Captain, what're our orders!?" The Commander of the archer battalion had called out to me, bringing me back to my senses.

"Fire the Archer units at that thing!" I commanded, still wondering about why Power Ranking failed. That thing wasn't any ordinary monster. It changed the atmosphere alone, and not in a psychological sense, but it physically altered the air and the space around us.

Pheeeeeew! The arrows hit, but the monster didn't budge. In fact, it only alerted the Monster to our position. The damned thing sped up, making the Earth tremble with each step it took.

The hell was this thing?? "Fire the second volley!" Another fleet of arrows hit and the entity remained unharmed.

Instead, the monster stuck it's cannon-like arm and projected it towards the Archer battalion. It began to charge up an attack, dark energy fuming from it, and released it, causing the entire battalion to be wiped out and a crater taking place of where the units stood.

With this, the other units became rampant and wild. Some began to flee, others lost complete hope and fell into despair. Horrified screams ensued throughout the battlefield. The monster began to charge up another attack...

KA.....BOOOOM!

The ground trembled as another attack went through. Another large portion of the army was completely decimated. The Monster pointed it's arm directly at me.

Hah... How the hell? It's range is way too big... It's gonna hit me!

The final attack passed by. It was heading right at me. I couldn't move out of the way.

Just as the dark energy was about to hit me, a pale light pushed me out of the way, and the attack reflected back at the monster. The monster fell to the ground as it was stunned, shaking the ground with its heavy thud.

I looked back at the light. It resembled a pale girl with white long hair, glowing skin and a white silky dress. By this time, the other units completely deserted me... and this ghost-like figure stood in front of me. It went up to me and took me by the hand, pulling me up.

"What the HELL are you!?" I blurted out as the pale figure stared at me with gray charcoal eyes.

"Let's not talk here," the voice spoke in a childlike tone as it pulled me up and started soaring off into the sky, taking me along with it. Before I realized it... the ghost was flying!?

"Wo-woah... Are we flying?!" I asked and the ghost-figure nodded. She seemed to have looked for a specific area to land in, deciding to drop off at a tightly packed forest.

We flew downwards, and in an instant I was back to the ground in the middle of a forest. It was dark. The only source of light was the ghost-figure in front of me.

"U-uh... so, what exactly are you?" The ghost ignored me. It turned around and began looking at me, patting my leg, back, and arms as if it was looking for something.

"Brown eyes... Brown hair... You seem to check out," the ghost nodded at me like it gave me a rating based on my looks. Hey... stupid thing was ignoring me!

"Answer me!" I yelled out, becoming angry at the fact that I had just been suddenly pulled out and into the midst of a random forest without any purpose. That all my units had disappeared from me and that I was left totally alone. Then again, I probably would've been dead if it weren't for this thing.

"Fine. I'm Faith, a phantasm ghost," the pale white girl, Faith, explained. "You could be a bit nicer to me, considering I saved you and all."

She was right. Maybe I was too impulsive. Besides, she said she was a phantasm ghost... That was interesting, to say the very least. I had only seen a ghost once. They were extremely rare, and now I have been saved by one...

Seeing a phantasm ghost was considered as a charm. Talking to one was a fortune, with many tales surrounding them.

Nonetheless, I knew I couldn't trust this thing yet. I kept a wary eye on the ghost.

"You are Vanguard, correct?" I nodded, my ears perked up as I heard my name. "I like your name."

"U-uh...?" I didn't expect her to be so casual, or direct. Her words were the opposite of her energy. One was casual and relaxed; the other was serious and had enough power to take down a whole army.

"Anyways, I usually come by to save a random human every once in a while. I didn't expect to save someone like you, though."

"Someone like me?" What was she talking about... Jeez, this situation was so random.

"I've heard about you. I just thought you were some simple boy caught in the middle of a conflict, never a Captain," Faith, the ghost, mischievously smiled at me. "Though, I know you aren't anybody special."

"H-huh..." Okay, now I was slightly getting disturbed. She was... scary. I kept my hand on the handle of my sheathed sword.

"You're just a peasant farmer who got unlucky. You were brought into this whole ordeal. You're not the big hero everyone makes you out to be.

She was right. Though, I didn't bother to ask how she knew all this. "So... what?"

"You see... Our pathways are very similar. I already know a lot about you. We are both headed for Khurid Kingdom. I have enough power to help you. I can be your one person army. But there's a catch-"

"...Sorry, but I don't think I'm interested," I cut her off from finishing. I wasn't interested in teaming up with her, not at the moment at least.

"Hm? You realize your units were all murdered, right? Would you rather like to go alone?"

Gahhhh. She was right once again. I wasn't in any position to decline. She put me in a risky situation where I had to trust her. "Fine, just for now."

"Excellent. I can teach you a lot, too. I know how weak you really are. But, if you stick with me... I can make you stronger than Iomene."

Oh, hoh? Now I was really interested. "I'm down," I said with a smirk to my lips.

"Yes, yes. Amazing. Now, I think it's best if you went asleep for now. I can explain the details tomorrow, but I don't want you to be half-asleep for what I'm about to tell you."

"Huh? Wo-woah, wait wait wait!" Faith walked up to me and tapped me on the forehead, causing me to faint for the night.

I fell asleep, unwillingly, on the forest grass. Rather, Faith caused me to faint with a single tap.